US1013057A - Keg-rinsing machine. - Google Patents

Description

G. D. PRENTIUE.

KEG BINSING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED MAY 13, 1910.

Patented Dec. 26, 1911.

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WITNESSES:

ATTORNEYS COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH CO.. WASHINGTON, D. c.

G. D. PRENTICE.

KEG RINSING MACHINE.

APPLIGATION FILED MAY 13, 1910.

Patented Dec. 26, 1911.

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lll E a hhrroR/vsys WITNESSES COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH 00., WASHINGTON, D. c.

GEORGE DENISON PRENTIC'E, OF GREAT FALLS, MONTANA.

KEG-RINSING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 26, 1911.

Application filed May 13, 1910. Serial No. 561,262.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE DENIsoN PRENTICE, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Great Falls, in the county of Cascade and State of Montana, have invented certain Improvements in Keg-Rinsing Machines, of which the following is a specification. v

My invention is a machine for rinsing or washing out casks, kegs, or other receptacles, the same being caused to operate automatically by the weight of a cask or keg placed in due position on the ,machine, and requiring no attention or manipulation. Water is discharged into a cask or keg when placed on a depressible support and over a perforated nozzle. When the keg-support is depressed it opens a water-discharge valve and raises a weighted piston in a cylinder or dash-pot, and the time required for descent .of the piston to its original position determines the time of discharge of water into the keg. I thus provide for automatic discharge of water into a keg for rinsing the same and for automatic regulation of the time during which said discharge shall continue.

The details of construction, combination, and operation of parts are as hereinafter described, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of the machine. Fig. 2 is a central vertical section on the line 22 of Fig. 1. Figs. 3 and 4 are diagrammatic side views illustrating the operation of the machine. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the water discharge valve and parts directly connected thereon. Fig. 6 is a sectional plan illustrating in part the mechanism by which the time of discharge of water is regulated. Fig. 7 is a plan view of the lever or support for a cask or keg while being rinsed. Fig. 8 is an enlarged vertical section of the dash-pot or liquidcontaining cylinder employed for regulating the time of discharge of water into a keg. Fig. 9 is an enlarged sectional view illustrating the water-discharge valve and certain parts connected therewith.

As will be seen by reference to Figs. 1 and 2, the body 1 of the machine is a hollow casting having a thick horizontal top portion 2 which is extended laterally and constitutes practically a platform to which a perforated nozzle 3 is attached, centrally, and posts 4 at the edges, to aid in holding Fig. 2, the chamber of the body 1 communicates by a passage 1*, that extends up through the platform 2, with the corre sponding passage 3 -in the nozzle 3.

The machine is supported upon brackets 5 having each two feet, and an inverted V-shaped brace 6 is riveted to said brackets and secured to one edge of the platform for further increasing the rigidity of the machine.

. Water is admitted to the chamber of the body l by means of a long nozzle 7-see Fig. 2. The water chamber is divided horizontally by a partition 8 having a central opening in which is arranged a cylindrical bushing 9 having its lower end constructed as a valve-seat 10 upon which the valve 11 is adapted to seat. It is apparent from Fig. 2 that when the valve is lowered as there shown, water may have free passage from the inlet 7, through the bushing 9 and passage 1*", to and through the nozzle 3 and thus into the keg placed on the machine. On the other hand, when the valve 11 is raised and seated, it is obvious the supply will be cut off. The means for adjusting the valve in either of these two .positions will be presently described.

A cask or keg is placed on the machine in such manner that the nozzle 3 projects through its bung-hole and thus into the body of the keg so as to discharge water freely thereinto. The keg-support is a lever 12 whose body or main portion is circular, as shown in Fig. 7, and which is pivoted to a post 13 on the platform 2 and whose free end rests upon a spiral spring 15 that encircles one of the vertical posts 4. The normal position of this lever is inclined upward, as illustrated in Fig. 4, and the position it assumes when a keg is placed thereon is shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3. A triprod 16 is pivoted to the free end of the lever 12 and depends therefrom through an opening'in the platform 2, its lower portion being adapted to engage a long weighted lever 17 that is mounted rotatably on a hollow stub shaft 18 which is screwed into the side of the hollow body 1see Fig. 2. The rod 16 is adapted to engage the reduced end of the weighted lever 17, the two parts being provided with steel or other hardened wearplates 19. The lower end of the rod 16 is beveled, and when the keg lever 12 is depressed,such end strikes upon a circular trip 20, that is secured to the body 1 of the machine by means of a bolt or screw passing through a slot 21, by which means the trip 20 may be adjusted laterally, that is to say, to the right or left, as required to vary the time when the rod 16 will be disengaged from the lever 17. The lever 17 is connected with the stem or rod 22 of a piston 23,which, as shown in Fig. 8, is arranged in a double cylinder or dash-pot 24. l/Vhen a keg is placed on the lever 12 and depresses the same to the horizontal position shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, the lever 17 is shifted from the position shown in Figs. 3 and 4 to that shown in Fig. 1, or, in other words, its weighted end is raised and thereby the piston 23 of the dash-pot is raised also. At the upward limit of the throw of the lever 17, the beveled end of the pendent rod 16 strikes the abutment 20 and the rod is thereby disengaged from the lever whose weighted end then forces the piston down to its original position. Both in its upward and downward movement, the piston serves to force water or other liquid in opposite directions and the time of its descent determines the time during which water may be discharged through the passages 7, 9, 1 and 3, as before described. The described movement of the weighted lever 17 also serves to operate another smaller, butweighted, lever 25, which is keyed on the rock-shaft 18 that passes through the hollow shaft 18, as shown in Figs. 2 and 6, and is provided with a crank to which the winged stem 26 of the water-discharge valve 11 is pivoted. The rock-shaft 18 is provided with a-collar 18 which abuts the inner end of the hollow shaft 18*. A four armed plate spring 18 is interposed between the two levers 17 and 25, and the lever 25 being fixed on the shaft 18, the spring serves to draw the collar 18 tightly against the inner end of the hollow shaft so as to prevent the escape of water therethrough. The lateral wings 26 of the valve stem serve as guides in the cylindrical bushing 9. The smaller weighted lever 25 is shifted simultaneously wit-h the main weighted lever 17 by the engagement with the latter effected by a lateral lug 27 which projects over the smaller end of the lever 25, as shown in Fig. 6. Thus, simultaneously with the raising of the weighted end of lever 17 the smaller lever is moved to a corre sponding position as in Fig. 1, and at that instant it engages a pivoted stop or catch 28 which is of right-angular or elbow form and pivoted upon a stub-shaft 29 projecting from the hollow body l'of the machine.

The upper or horizontal arm of the stop 28 is provided with an adjustable screw 30, which, when the lever 17, together with the piston of the dash-pot moves down to its normal position, shown in Figs. 3 and 4, strikes upon the lever 17 so that the stop 28 is tripped or moved to the position indicated in Fig. 4, which releases the smaller weighted lever 25, whereby the valve 11, which was opened in the previous movement of the lever illustrated in Fig. 1, is again closed. In Figs. 1 and 2, the smaller weighted lever 25 is shown in a position which causes rotation of the shaft 18 and thereby the opening of the valve. The same thing appears in the diagrammatic view 3, but the screw 30 has just come in contact with the lever 17 and, when the latter completes its downward movement, illustrated by the arrow, the stop 28 will be tripped or entirely freed from the lever 25 so that its weight will rotate the shaft 18 back. to the position illustrated in Diagram 4, and thus close the valve 11 as there also indicated. A stop or rest 31- see Figs. 1, 3, and 4-is provided for the weighted end of the lever 17.

The dash-pot shown in Fig. 8 and which serves as a timing apparatus or governor for the discharge of water into the keg is constructed as follows. The body of the same is composed of two concentric cylinders 24 and 24 separated by an annular space to which oil or other liquid used in the apparatus is admitted. These cylinders are suitably connected with caps 32 and 32 and the piston 23 is adapted to slide in one of them. The upper cylinder head 32 is provided with an air passage 33. The inner cylinder 24 has openings 34 at top and bottom which communicate with the interior of spaces above and below the piston. A valve 35 is arranged in the lower portion of the inner cylinder 24 and provided with a spring for aiding gravity in holding it normally seated. Adjacent to the valve, but just above it, is an opening 36 in which a needle valve 37 seats, the same being provided exteriorly with a handle for rotating it. By adjustment of this threaded needle, it is obvious that the opening 36 maybe enlarged or diminished at will and thus the passage of liquid through it may be regulated. The water or other liquid used is admitted through a passage 38 provided with a screw-plug 39. lVhen the piston is raised, as indicated by arrow, the liquid which fills the space above it is forced out through the upper openings 34 into the annular passage between the two cylinders and enters the space below the valve, through the lower openings 34, and raising the valve 35, passes rubber part 11 matically, must find its way out through the opening 36 as fast as permitted by the adjustment of the needle valve 37. The de scent of the piston 23 determines the time when the water-discharge valve 11 will be seated, and consequently the time of discharge of water into the keg. By adjustment of the needle valve, therefore, such time may be regulated at will. The body 11 of the water-discharge valve is composed of some soft suitable material, say rubber or water-proofed leather, and the same is provided with a beveled edge and inserted in a holder whose edge is correspondingly beveled, as shown in Fig. 9. The holder of the valve proper is adjustable on the threaded stem 26, and a nut 40 is applied on the upper side and presses upon the leather or By this means, and by reason of the beveled form of the holder and the valve proper, the latter is held firmly in place so that it isnot liable to become loose and cannot be mashed or crushed out of its proper form. By adjustment of the nut 40, the part l1" may be compressed more or less, as required to form a close joint at the seat.

In order to provide for convenient access to the water-box or valve chamber in the body 1 of the apparatus, the plate composing the outer side of said chamber is made detachable, it being secured by four screws, as will be understood from the dotted lines shown in Figs. 1, 3, and 4. As shown in Fig. 2, the removable plate or side of the water-box bears centrally against packing applied to the horizontal partition in which the bushing or guide 9 is arranged.

WVhat I claim is 1. In a device of the character described, a water conduit, a valve controlling the passage of water therethrough, a rock shaft connected thereto, a weighted valve-operating lever rigidly connected to the rock shaft and adapted to normally hold the valve closed, means to rock said lever to open said valve, said means comprising a movable keg support, a second Weighted lever and a rod connected to the keg support and normally in engagement with said second named lever, means to cause both levers to move together when the second named lever is moved in one direction whereby the valve is opened, a .catch adapted to engage the valve-operating lever during this movement and hold the valve open, a trip adapted to disengage the rod from the second named lever during this movement, the second named lever being adapted thereupon to move in the opposite direction and disengage said catch from said valve-operating lever.

2. The combination with the frame or body of the apparatus, of a normally closed valve, means movable in one direction to open said valve, a keg support adapted to be moved by the weight of a barrel, means connecting said keg support with said valve opening means while the latter moves in the direction aforesaid, means operative during the said movement of the valve opening means to lock said valve in open position and means operative after the lastnamed means to disengage said connecting means from the valve opening means, said last-named means being thereupon adapted to move in another direction, and operative during said last-named movement to release the valve from the means to lock it in open position, substantially as described.

3. The combination with the frame or body of the apparatus, of a normally closed valve, means movable in one direction to open said valve, a keg support adapted to be moved by the weight of a barrel, a rod connecting said keg support with said valve opening means while the latter moves in the direct-ion aforesaid, means operative during the said movement of the valve opening means to lock said valve in open position and means operative after the lastnamed means to disengage said rod from the valve opening means, said last-named means being thereupon adapted to move in another direction, and operative during said lastnamed movement to release the valve from the means to lock it in open position, and means for returning the keg-support to its original position, whereby the trip rod is reset for engagement with the valve-opening means, substantially as described.

Witness my hand this the 17th day of March, A. D. 1910.

GEORGE DENISON PRENTICE.

WVitnesses:

d/VM. Gr. DoWNING,

S. R. JENSEN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, D. G.

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